Royal Dutch Shell, commonly known as Shell, is holding talks with world powers to learn about the immediate and long-term effects of the recent deal signed between Iran and P5+1 over Iran's nuclear activities, Nureddin Wefati, head of Middle East and North Africa Media Relations of Shell said on Tuesday.
According to the official, certain steps need to be taken by the two sides prior to sanctions termination, Tasnim News Agency reported.
"We are now closely following developments in light of the latest agreement, in particular to establish what impact, if any, it could have on our ability to settle our liability in a speedy and compliant manner," he said.
"In spite of the fact that we cannot settle our unpaid dues, amounting to $2.3 billion, we are exploring the potential role we can play in developing Iran's energy sector. In addition, we are interested in obtaining information about Iran's new financial conditions, as well as the effect of the signed deal on repaying our dues."
On the critical issue of crude purchase resumption from Iran, Wefati said, "Shell has a long history in buying oil from the National Iranian Oil Company and it will resume negotiations with Iranian officials provided sanctions are lifted."
Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Robert Wine, British Petroleum Group press officer, also said on Tuesday, "We are monitoring the situation carefully and in the meantime we continue to comply with sanctions. We will look at opportunities once able to do so."
BP is one of the world's leading international oil and gas companies. Quentin Vivant, the spokesman of Total, quoted CEO Patrick Pouyanne as saying, "We still need to review the details especially regarding sanctions removal. As we said before, Total has a long history in Iran and is willing to go back when the sanctions are lifted and if the conditions are interesting."
Yashar Azad, a spokesman for Siemens, said, "We welcome the agreement between the P5+1 group and Iran. All parties have to fulfill their obligations. It's still too early to speak of any concrete plans. However, as long as the sanctions remain in place, we'll continue to maintain full compliance with the specific."
Iran and P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany) reached a comprehensive nuclear deal on July 14, which paves the way for lifting sanctions on Iran's energy sector. However, the implementation of sanctions removal depends on the International Atomic Energy Agency's confirmation of the country's compliance with nuclear commitments.
